An important but sometimes dreaded part of your wedding day takes place right afterwards – family formals. Why is it dreaded? We’ve all been part of that wedding where it felt like they dragged on and on and on.

As your wedding photographers, we don’t want that for you. We’re here to help you plan family formals pictures to run smoothly and efficiently. We’ve rounded up our best tips on working with your wedding photographer to plan your family formals shot list so you can get to your wedding reception faster!

But first – here’s why planning your family formals is so important.

Rob and I didn’t have this help at our wedding. While our photographer was helpful in many ways, she never gave us any suggestions in regard to how to organize family pictures.

In fact, we didn’t realize my side of the family didn’t know to stay until it was too late – when we were in the middle of doing pictures. We have pictures of the entire extended family on Rob’s side, but on my side we have only my immediate family – my parents and sister. No pictures with my grandma. No pictures with my aunts, uncles, or cousins – some of whom I’m pretty close to!

It could have been prevented with ten minutes of planning.

It’s important to remember that the family formals are a crucial part of your wedding day gallery. It’s one of the only times where all of your family and friends will be in one place, and dressed up! With some careful planning and consideration, it is most definitely possible to get some really nice portraits in the least amount of time possible! Keep reading to learn how!

Keep Your Formal Photo List Short

As your wedding photographer, I’ll send over a general family formals organization list ahead of time through your portal for you to review and update. This is a part of the day that really NEEDS to be planned in advance so things run smoothly and we can move on to the rest of your day.

My first piece of advice is to try and keep that family list fairly abbreviated – 10-15 groupings at most. Remember, with each grouping we have to call out names, arrange the group so each person looks their best, and take multiple shots to make sure we have a good image with everyone smiling at the camera, both vertical and horizontal! The time can add up quickly, especially with larger groups. Additionally, the longer people stand around waiting, the grumpier they get 😉 That’ss why it’s important to keep your formals list concise to keep everything moving smoothly and keep everyone smiling!

Bride and Groom In All Formal Photos

We also recommend the bride and groom be included in every photo taken during this part of the day to avoid too much repetition. We will of course take pictures of the bride with her parents and the groom with his parents, but if you already have a large family list of pictures to get through, it’s better to maximize the time we have before everyone gets antsy. Besides, you’re ALL family now, right? 😉

Location, Location, Location

Traditionally we plan to take family formals pictures somewhere close to the ceremony location. If you have a special request for where you’d like these family pictures to happen, please let us know ahead of time, especially if it’s somewhere other than the ceremony site. This helps us to plan for the best lighting scenarios, which will largely depend on the time of day. (We may need to pack lighting gear, etc., which is not a problem if we know ahead of time, but could be a problem if we had a 15-minute walk from our vehicle and now we need to sprint back to get something we’re missing before family formals can start!)

Communicate About Family Formals

I’m always a firm believer in over-communication…and this includes when it comes to how to plan your family formals!  Prepare your family and friends by sending the list of pictures and the location to the people who will be in them. A quick email costs you nothing and also ensures that everyone has a copy in their hand. No one goes anywhere without their phone!

Along with that, kindly let your family and guests know that you have worked with your photographer and have the shot list ready, and if they have any requests, to do those during the reception. This will help prevent your dear, sweet Aunt Suzie from requesting six extra combinations that you don’t even really want.

In addition, ask your officiant to reiterate at the end of the ceremony that family will need to stay for photos (because Uncle Paul is already thinking about cocktail hour)!

Delegate

Select one family member or a close friend who knows your family well to act as a formals helper. During family formals, the lead photographer (Veronica) is the only one actually taking pictures. This ensures everyone is looking the same way! The second photographer (Rob) is in charge of the list and calling out names and groupings, but we will not know all the extended family members. Having an assigned friend to make sure everyone is where they are supposed to be will make this sometimes hectic time run much smoother!

Potential Sticky Situations – Divorces and More

Please let me know ahead of time regarding family members who are elderly or have other mobility issues. This helps me to plan so that they don’t have to get up and down multiple times.

Also, please let us know about divorces or family feuds. Weddings are happy events so we want to avoid any potentially awkward situations! We recognize divorces and stepfamilies can create some sticky situations, but knowing about them ahead of time is key to avoiding foot-in-mouth syndrome. (Like that one time a couple forgot to tell us one of the sets of parents were divorced and we were putting them together in all the pictures until someone whispered in our ear … #awkward.)

Plan Family Formals: Stay Focused

It is highly possible that you will have family and friends approaching you for photos while you’re in the midst of formals, even if they weren’t on the list you made.  This is normal and understandable!  Everyone wants a photo with the bride and groom because you’re the stars of the day!  When this happens to us, we like to remind them that we’ll be there for the rest of the night and can take that photo during the reception when there will be plenty of down time. This satisfies the person asking for a photo about 99% of the time. Then we can quickly move on with the list so you can get to the reception!

On that same note, lots of couples really like the idea of a photo with all of their guests.  I love this idea too!  However, we can also do this at the reception.  For one thing, everyone is a bit more relaxed, meaning you get a photo that is FUN with everyone cheering!  Also, everyone is in one place AND for any stragglers, your DJ will be able to help round them up.  Be sure to let your photographer know that you want this photo in advance, too!

Last one – have fun!

We realize that formal family photos are not as fun as those candid shots throughout the day, but your parents and grandparents love them, and it will be something they will cherish and proudly display on the walls of their homes. 

BONUS – Sample Family Formals Shot List

Here’s a helpful starter list below for planning your family formals shot list:

Bride and Groom with Officiant

Bride and Groom with Bride’s Parents, Siblings, and Extended Family
Bride and Groom with Bride’s Parents and Siblings
Bride and Groom with Bride’s Siblings
Bride and Groom with Bride’s Parents

Bride and Groom with Bride’s Parents and Groom’s Parents

Groom and Bride with Groom’s Parents
Groom and Bride with Groom’s Siblings
Groom and Bride with Groom’s Parents and Siblings
Groom and Bride with Groom’s Parents, Siblings, and Extended Family

Bride’s Parents Alone
Bride’s Grandparents Alone
Groom’s Parents Alone
Groom’s Grandparents Alone

Family formals can be a stressful and often time-consuming part of planning your wedding.  However, the thought and effort put into the family formals shot list will pay off on your wedding day.  We’ll be able to get all of the photos of your loved ones in the least amount of time possible!

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